there that wanted this to happen. >> and all of it fed into the incredible volatility of the world that we live in today and the pace of events just shockingly fast. chuck's up next with the daily rundown. take it away. violence in libya. the u.s. ambassador and three others are killed as the consulate burns. in cairo, mobs tear down the u.s. flag. outrage over an obscure online video that is said to have denounced islam. the administration has embassies around the world in countries with large muslim populations on high alert. we're live in cairo. in a flash, though, this crisis turned political. on 9/11 no less. governor romney calls the u.s. response disgraceful, the obama campaign says they're shocked by his response. the mud slinging started before it was even kay break and before we knew how many u.s. officials had been killed. plus as president clinton stumps

for president obama in florida, paul ryan releases new ads in his home state of wisconsin to keep his house seat. it's a busy day in political news, too. we'll try to cover it all. good morning from washington. it's wednesday, september 12th, this is the daily rundown. let's get to my first reads. a day that started with a campaign pause for sole almost remembrances on 9/11 endeded with violence abroad and mud slinging here at home. somebody and mitt romney were supposed to take a 24 hour break from campaign to go honest or the victims of 9/11 and pay tribute to american troops still fighting overseas particularly in afghanistan. but the truce didn't last long as a diplomatic crisis in north africa quickly turned political. the white house has confirmed this morning that u.s. ambassador to libya chris stevens was killed in benghazi. also dead with three other embassy officials. after protesters with automatic rifles, rocket row spelled grenades attacked the u.s. consulate and set it on fire in

benghazi. president obama said in a statement this morning, quote, i strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in benghazi which took the lives of four americans including ambassador chris stevens. while the united states rejects efforts to deny great the religious rebeliefs of other, we must oppose kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public ser vabts. according to the white house, the president was informed by national security adviser yesterday afternoon as he started his weekly meeting with secretary of defense and chairman of the joint chiefs. then president obama was notified last night that ambassador stevens was unaccounted for and then this morning he was notified about his death. secretary of state hillary clinton also condemned the attacks expressing, quote, proceed noubd sadness and adding all the americans weless in yesterday's attacks made the ultimate sacrifice. we condemn in vicious and violent attack that took their lives which they had committed to helping the libyan people reach for a better future.

angry protesters also stormed the u.s. embassy in cairo scaling the wall, pulling down an american flag. all of this and outrage over an amateur video that denounces islam that by an american real estate developer and promoted by that pastor from florida, terry jones, remember him, the man would threatening of burning of korans triggered deadly riots two years ago. hoping to contain the fallout from the film before the violent attacks began, the american embassy in cairo released a statement tuesday that says the following. quote, the united states embassy in cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of muzlism as we condemn efforts to condemn believerses of all religions. it's a statement that was to the approved by the obama admin strarks september out by the cairo embassy on itz own. in a statement late tuesday, mitt romney criticized the white

house for that statement from cairo saying, quote, it's disgraceful that the obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatics missions but to sim pa 2450iz with those who waninged the attacks. the obama campaign fired back, quote, we're shocked that at a time when the united states of america is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in libya governor romney would choose to launch a political attack. sarah palin then joined the fray paraphrasing a line often used to mock her, tweeting apparently president obama can't see egypt and libya from his house. now here's what we don't get. why the romfully c fullney camp wait until they had all the facts, not waiting to see exactly what was going on, waiting a day to condemn. now they're in a political box because what can they do.

they know that they've made a mistake. you can see by the statements they've released this morning. now they wish they had the press release back because as the events happened overnight, confirming the death of ambassador stevens, the statement looks crass and tone deaf. in another escalating diplomatic dispute, the administration is trying to ease attentions with iran. president obama called benjamin netanyahu last night after israel the president was snubbing netanyahu by not meeting with him when he comes to new york two weeks from now p earlier in the day, netanyahu had sharp words on for washington on iran responding to secretary clinton who said the international community should give sanctions more time to work instead of taking more military action. >> those international community who refuse to put red lines

before iran don't have a more right to place a red light before israel. >> before i jump ahead to the politics of the day, very quickly to wrap this up, they had this phone call, the white house put out a read saying that there was never an invite asked for by the israelis nor was one denied. israeli officials have another view. they certainly still expected to have a meeting with the president when he was over here in new york city or possibly in washington. worth noting the lead story in the jerusalem post has the leading opposition figure in israeli politics of netanyahu asking of threat yahoo! which regime do you want changed first, the one in the united states or the one in iran. so he's dealing with sharp political problems at home, as well. jewish american voters of course are just one of the groups the obama campaign hopes former president clinton can energize and talk back into the obama camp. the former president stumped for the current president in miami

saying that obama has made progress under difficult circumstances. >> the test is not whether you think everything's hunky dory. if that were the test, the president would vote against himself. the test is whether he's taking that in the right direction and the answer is yes. >> clinton stumps in orlando today and expect to see him in one of four states in the coming weeks. florida, ohio, new hampshire and nevada. a lot of older white working class swing voters. meanwhile paul ryan is back in wisconsin today before heading to capitol hill tomorrow for a few house votes. his first visit to washington since being tapped as romney's running mate. ryan is on the ballot twice in wisconsin's first congressional district for vice president and re-election of his house seat. so today's day debuting tv ads for his house seat. >> as americans, we deserve a choice, you, not washington, should decide the path we take

and the decisions we make. this is our chance to restore real faith and real opportunity in america. >> as you can see, the message almost exactly the same as what he is saying on the national campaign trail. now, while krt ticks might say ryan is hedging his bets, joe biden did the same thing in 2008. the air time probably helps the romney campaign particularly in that district which is a district the obama campaign carried in 2008. and also target of sustained second guessing. a growing number of republicans are concerned that romney is letting the race slip away. just listen to laura ingram. >> if you can't beat barack obama with this record, then shut down the party. >> rush limbaugh echoed with

more. >> if obama win, you say it's the end of the republican party. and there will be a third party that will be oriented towards conservative, rand paul thinks libertarian inch. and if obama wins, the republican party will try to maneuver things so conservatives get blamed. the only problem is right now romney's not running a conservative campaign. >> we haven't seen such a collective hand wringing by the conservative opinion elite since july. the advice is coming fast and furious. here's news corp ceo rupert murdoch tweeting to win romney must open to sympathetic families. stop fearing far right. the "wall street journal" criticized romney for vagueness, quote, mr. romney's pre-existing political calculation seems to be that he can win the election without having to explain the economic moment or even his policies. weekly standard also chimed in, the as sisters that you are more comprehend tent than president obama strikes many people as merely that, an assertion. as writers are often told you

need to show it, not tell it. you know, what considering all of the criticism they're getting from the right or the left, maybe now we understand why the romney campaign knee jerkily responded to this crisis overseas. so back to that breaking news out of north africa and the tragic death of chris stevens and three others the same time tensions remain high outside the u.s. embassy in cairo. richard engel is live outside the embassy and andrea mitchell with me here in washington. richard, you've reported that tensions have eased a bit. >> reporter: the tensions here are somewhat fading no now. there is a very small demonstration you can hear behind me. but about as many demonstrators as are here, there ares as many egyptian security forces. so right now, egyptians are

letting off steam, standing in front of the embassy, but there have been no attempts to scale over the wall like they did yesterday, the 20-foot wall in the background behind me. not the same situation as what happened in benghazi yesterday. that was an armed assault on the consulate the and now the white house has confirmed that the u.s. ambassador chris stevens was in the consulate at the time and was killed along with three other americans. >> richard wlor, who is protect the u.s. he embassy right now in cairo? >> reporter: well, inside there are marines as there are in the other embassies. and if you see the men in black, this is part of the egyptian riot police armed with helmets and shields and these barricades. and have set up something of a human chain to pry vent people from getting anywhere near to the walls or in this case to the main gate of the embassy.

but inside it's u.s. personnel. >> has the egypt shan government c condemned the attack? >> reporter: it's funny the egyptian government response, and not pleasing to many u.s. officials. the u.s. if you remember washington had a fabulous relationship with president mubar mubarak, so close that many egyptians were very upset about that. right now the muslim brotherhood not speaking exactly for the president, but the new egyptian president is from the muslim brotherhood, says it is calling for demonstrations against denouncing religion in solidarity with the protesters on friday. so the muslim brotherhood while not speaking directly for the egyptian president, it is high school party, calling for more demonstrations. on a different situation than under mubarak.

under mubarak, these demonstrations simply would not have happened. they would have been arrested and kept far away from the embassy. now the president is silent, but his group is calling for more demos. >> andrea, it's stunning that a u.s. ally that received billions of dollars in u.s. aid has yet to condemn this attack in the united states embassy. >> second only to the aid given to israel. the fact that this has not been condemned is extraordinary. and the fact that what's happening in libya has not had a different response -- >> let's remind people no lives were lost in getting rid of gadhafi and now the united states has lost live ps sgrp four lives. and no life is anymore precious than another. but when you kill an american ambassador, this has not happened since 1979 in

afghanistan when the russians came in. and this is a tragedy for the families, for the people lost, but there is as with any military corps or foreign service corps, this is a huge hit against the state department and i think we'll be hearing from hillary clinton at some point today. we've heard on paper her proceed fou profound sense of loss. >> i want to go back to the -- we don't have the egyptian and libyan governments sort of swiftly denouncing what took place, and right now we're their most important financial ally, conditions get off the ground without our help, what's the important of having friends? >> their response would be that we need to get past this, work with them. this is the hand we're dealt. you know there will be response in congress.

>> they'll threaten these funds. andrea mitchell, i know you're all over the story this morning. >> and we'll have dan senior on the show and mike bloomberg. >> and we haven't talked about the whole romney statement on this. we'll have much more coming up. plus political impact of the diplomatic crisis, what mitt romney's quick fire statement says about the campaign's messaging problems. but first a look ahead at the schedules today of the president and mitt romney. president supposed to be wheels up for las vegas, then colorado, a little western swing. will he speak about the death of ambassador stevens and these attacks we've leaves the whwhit house? our guess is yes. mitt romney speaks in jag sonville. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need to compete on the global stage.

what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knoow. ♪ tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ normal voice ] nope, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] same agent and everything. it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ ask an allstate agent about the value plan. are you in good hands? as part of a heart healthy diet.

that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

the obama campaign is shocked that team romney didn't wait 24 hours before attacking the responsibility, but it may be some source of concern for republicans who have been complaining about romney's inability to stick to an economic message that they believe will be a decider in november. with me now, blanche lincoln and john sununu. senator, let me start with you. do you think 9 romney campaigns wish they had the statement back? >> sure. they probably should have waited. sxw >> do you understand why they

did it in the moment? walk me through are why you being they did it in the moment. >> news cycle politics and also the fact that it was an unfolding international event. they had been criticized somewhat for not andi iaddressi in a specific way. that was probably blown out of proportion, but i believe that was partly a driver of the response. >> senator lincoln, on the one hand you might want to make the romney campaign own this, at the same time, you don't want to look like you're overly politicizing an international crisis. >> you've just said, it's a news cycle -- that's not what people want to hear. people want to know that you're focused on how are we going to get our economy back on track. and you're right, i think the obama campaign has to make sure that it's allowing the -- the attack was a disproportionate attack on the embassy.

and romney's was disproceed portion nat in return. >> you know what's coming in the next couple days. egypt has yet to condemn. there's going to be probably a pretty strong movement in congress to yank aid if they don't start protecting u.s. citizens in cairo. >> foreign aid is not popular anywhere, but when you come to small rural states that are enormously stricken by poverty and lack of jobs, foreign aid is not a keep reminding people -- >> but egypt is not making it easy. >> this will be an issue. it's likely to build momentum. and you can't pull the politics

away. the obama administration was moving toward approving additional military aid for egypt, givinging them loan forgiveness for farm aid and other kinds of economic assistance. and so it's all the more likely that there will be both push back and an effort to make clear that the administration certainly prior to this event had sort of a vague and uncertain approach to the existing egyptian regime. >> and sthenator lincoln, it do seem that the arab spring has been an interesting development to follow and there is democracy taking place in a lot of these countries, but not looking like american allies. and that's been a chief criticism of romney, that did the obama administration manage gel this, how is it that we're finding if they're not enemies, they're not al lies ylegheny l .

>> foreign aid is critical to keep peace globally in whatever way that we can.lies yet. >> foreign aid is critical to keep peace globally in whatever way that we can. but we have to elevate ourselves. you see what's going on in the political realm and i don't know, i think again, and i've said it before on your show, there's an opportunity for us to find the consensus here in this country and really elevate ourselves in a way that shows globally. >> elevating the political debate in 55 days. >> it will be hard to do. i think the romney campaign will get the debate back to chicks. but this is a story overseas that dominates the news cycle for three or information mower day, maybe a week. >> thank you for bringing your perspectives. we're continuing to follow the breaking news out of will i be yark we just learned the president will speak at 10:35 in the rose garden. so that will be something to stick with us for. plus the markets are opening near a five year high this

morning. we have a preview of the day on wall street. big news for the euro thanks to germany. but first, i'll throw out the trivia question. who is the most recent republican president who is living in the same state in which he was born at the time he was elected president? % [ female announcer ] how do you define your moment?

the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener. with the original sugar-like taste you love and trust.

splenda makes the moment yours.

. big decision in a german court today on the eurozone bailout that seems to be making the markets happy. we're just minutes away from the opening bell. becky quick, i always say that, becky quick, quick, just rolls off the tongue.

>> that ecb had been waiting to get this german court rule to go say, yes, they do find this constitutional. market taking it in stride. higher today. it had expected this ruling, a ruling in the opposite direction would have really shake p things up. also we have the federal reserve meeting. ben bernanke expected to roll out qe-3 at least that's the majority of market watchers sxebl expecting. but if the fed doesn't step into save the day, maybe apple will. there is an announcement at 1:00 p.m. today expected from apple and the market buzz is that we'll be getting the apple iphone 5. there is an economist at jpmorgan who says that this device by itself could be enough to move the needle when it comes to gdp. he says you could be looking at sales $3.2 billion in the fourth quarter and that could half up to a half a point to the gdp. so if ben bernanke doesn't save

the world, maybe apple will. >> becky, thank you. more on the breaking news out of libya and cairo next and we're also expecting mitt romney to address the situation in libya any minute now at a campaign event this florida. we're continuing to follow the developments in libya and cairo. of course we know the president will speak at 10:35 on what happened. plus to mourn the death of ambassador stevens from libya.

but there was another big story overnight that does matter around the world and that is moody's warning tuesday that it could become the second major credit agency to downgrade the nation's credit rating before the end of the year if congress fails to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff and reduce the debt. speaker john boehner told reporters he's not optimistic a deal can get done. >> i'm not confident at all. the house has done its job. on both the sequester and the looming tax hikes. the senate at some point has to act. and on both of these, where is the president? where is the leadership? absent without leave. >> joining me now, sheldon white house. before i get to this, i want to ask you about your reaction and where your head is on aid to egypt. the egyptian government has yet to condemn this attack on the

united states embassy in cairo. how troubling is that development for you? >> it's unhealthy for the egyptian government not to respond in a way that shows their concern for the safety of our americans that's made worse by the killing of annual bass door teac ambassador stevens and the three other personnel that shows how serious this kind of activity can be. so it's incumbent upon the egyptian government to try to make it right as quick as they can. >> how do you justify the money spent, the lives put as risk to basically help libya and egypt and their fledgling democracies and this is the thanks the

united states is get something. >> that's the frustration people feel. people understand that the arab spring was a huge step towards democracy. away from total atotalitarian governments. it was a step that was needed, that we need to defend particularly the state of israel. 2000 all but for all of that, it would be nice if our effort was reciprocated because americans are generous people, but they also like to know that their generosity is valued. >> could you imagine now voting against aid to egypt? >> i think from a strategic point of view that would be a blunder and that's why it's so important for the egyptians to try to make this right and express what americans are looking for, which is support for our folks over there in a very dangerous part of the world as the tragic events in libya have shown. >> now, you guys are in session

i think maybe for all of nine days in the united states senate, that's the rumor that you may recess for the election on september 21st. >> the house is leaving on the 21st and that they've made that decision that the speak ser going and taking the house with him. so my guess is their departure is our end point. >> fair enough. it seems everybody is leaving town and yet moody's has this debt down grade threat hanging over the head. why not before you leave town, will somebody reintroduce bowles-simpson, is there any ground work to being laid that-to-make sure the lame duck getting something done? the the >> there are a number of group discussions taking place about ways to avoid the sequester.

>> i'm talking about the larger fiscal cliff. >> well, that's the biggest part of the fiscal cliff, that and the bush tax cuts. what we will do is avoid a government shutdown. i'm told the continue resolution will take us through march so we can can come back knowing who the new president is and get to work and have a little time to begin to make the important compromises and deals that needs to be made. >> are you optimistic that a debt downgrade -- another one can be avoided before the end of the year? >> i wouldn't -- i don't know. that's moody's call. first, i'm optimistic that we can avoid a government shutdown and depending on how the elections come, there is a good chance that the lame duck period can be productive. and if not, there will be immense pressure on congress to get something done by that march

deadline. and if we have to go over the fiscal cliff, we can roll it back and quickly repair that damage. i think it's important to really hold firm for middle class families against tax increases. we actually passed a bill that -- would have passed it had it not been for the republican filibuster. we had a majority of votes in the senate to protect families under $250,000 from having their taxes raised and the senate republicans defeated that. >> all right, senator white house, i have to leave it there. thanks for coming on this morning and sharing your views. >> all of our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in libya. >> we all join in that. thank you, senator. as we reported earlier before the death of u.s. ambassador in libya, chris stevens and three others was confirmed, romney campaign put out a statement, hit the president hard for what they said was his response to the violence in the region calling it, quote, dids graceful. let's bring in our panel.

bob gosh, sarah fagan and doug thornell. bob, i with a want to go back t egyptian government has yet to condemn what happened. >> i'm as surprised about that as you are. i think that's probably coming very soon. the muslim brotherhood which is the dominant party in egypt has called for more protests against this film today and tomorrow and i think that is extremely bad politics and bad dough proceed massey. i'm astonished that a formal expression of condolences like we've seen the libyans have done that very quickly, the libyan president went on erica da to apologize profusely and extend his condolences.

i'm sure price that had president morsi in egypt has failed to do this. >> walk me through how this arcane youtube video got into the sort of bloodstream of islami islamists. >> this this is a movie made on a shawl budget, an obscure movie made by what now appears to be what we now think is really israeli american filmmaker in california. i've seen clips. it is calculated to give offense to muslims. it portrays the prophet in the most unflattering light. the less i say about the movie the better. but what happened is something associated i think loogsly with the film took some clips from it 13 minutes worth, produced a youtube video and it went viral. there is an entire industry in several muslim countries that is

predicated on anger, that basically people looking very closely at things like this and then a rousing anger and hatred in the street. that happens through television channels, that happens through priests and mosques and through political parties. >> let me bring in my washington part of the panel. and we're waiting on mitt romney. he may come out and speak on this, he may do a regular event, they haven't decided yet. sarah, you were involved in a campaign that you were the incumbent president, you had a challenger questioning you on national security. and there would be moments in time. assess how the romney campaign handled this. >> i think had they known that the u.s. ambassador to libya lost his life, they may have handled yesterday differently. they may have waited before

putting out a statement. >> doesn't look good this morning. >> doesn't look good in the context of the fact that we're all talking about the death of a senior foreign service leader. that said, they reacted in large part to u.s. embassy in sky row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37hsky row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37aisky row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37rosky row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37ky row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37y row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37 row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37row did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37ow did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37w did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37 did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37chairo did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37airo did. however, they didn't condemn the attacks 37. >> the arab spring, the president was very involved in pushing mubarak out and egypt is not looking like an ally this morning. they have not looked like an ally ever since the muslim brotherhood won the election. >> i think that overall the president has -- you look at

polling, the public has strong faith in him. even from republicans, he gets credit for his foreign polpoll. it will be interesting to see when egypt condemn this is. to your point, though, with the romney reaction, it was a knee jerk reaction. as a challenger, you have to sit back and get all the facts. >> i think they see it this morning. >> that's standard of challengers, though. governing is a lot harder than running for office. >> it does seem as if the romney campaign just by their body language this morning, right, no statements yet. >> one could imagine. but i'm very struck by both sarah and senator sununu talking about their assessment of the mistake. if i'm not putting it too strongly that the romney campaign made. the president in his acceptance speech made a jab that i thought was pretty brassy. >> i thought it was getting

close to below the belt. >> in terms of his lack of experience when he didn't have experience four years ago. >> i promise you, i'll let you respond right after the break. i have to go to break. we'll hear from hillary clinton, as well. but stick around. live pictures here. mitt romney campaigning in jacksonville, florida. we're expecting him to comment on the death of chris stevens and the attack this benghazi and cairo. we come have hillary clinton coming. don't forget you can follow the show on facebook. we'll be right back. 23 respect [ mother ] you can't leave the table till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8...

a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex,

increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. . we're expecting hillary clinton to speak any minute now on the death of ambassador stevens. let's bring back the panel. you wanted to jump in. >> i think mistake is a strong word. i to think the romney campaign was right to point out the fact that the embassy in cairo which attacked the video, which is a

fair point, didn't also condemn the attacks on u.s. service personnel. it feeds the narrative that many americans think obama s. leads from behind. and when his embassy gets out and the fact that the white house walked it back this morning, they walked the statement back -- >> here's the thing. what the romney campaign was trying to do is use the cairo embassy statement as the first statement of the administration. and theyly misrepresented that. and the narrative of the president apologizing is totally false. >> but how has the u.s. government handled egypt? it does seem as if this is an uneasy relationship. is gee gi is egypt an ally some basic question. >> there is certainly not the

relationship that we had with president mubarak and i don't think we should expect egypt is under new government, rethinking all of its foreign policy positions and i think the obama administration is probably doing likewise. kr egypt and the united states has more interests in common than against each other, so in the grand picture, yes, they are allies, but it won't be an unquestioning cairo. it won't be a cairo that says how high when washington says jump. that being said, i'm still -- this is really inexplicable that president morsi has taken this long to respond and he hasn't actually responded yet. >> ti do want to throw in the local idea used of how we were joking of how bad the internet is for this. if it wasn't for social media, the arab spring might not have happened. but if it weren't for social

media, would this video have made the rounds. an arcane video have somebody everybody has condemned this guy left and right. >> of course it wouldn't. the social media and the internet are begins of popular -- wonderful popular uprisings and democratization as we saw in the arab spring and they're also engines of disinformation and misinformation and fueling potential violence and that's what we're seeing here. i'm not sure you can have one without the other. and you you can't put the genie of the internet back in the bottle either. but we'll have to figure out ways to help convey as quickly as possible to the people who understandably riled up if they believe that this is sort of an official u.s. government or official american view of islam, we have to continue to figure out ways and with the egyptian government of how to combat that misinformation. >> say remarrahsarah, the bush

administration with karen hughes's job was to see if nobody could do it better. she couldn't crack the code. i don't think we're cracking the code now of how to get out this message that the united states government is somehow anti-islam. >> it will take a very long time and decades yet before we can bridge i think those gaps unfortunately. but ruth is right, we need to keep charging forward and trying to build bridges with these other countries. and having articulate spokesman in the region an out in the public helps. >> we'll sneak in one more break. i will give you the trivia question because i know senator sununu and lincoln love this one. we asked who was the most recent republican president who was living in the same state in which he was born at the time he was elected president? we know mitt romney won't have that. you have to go all the way back to 1920, warren g. harding, he

was still living in his home, state of ohio, when he was elected president. not hoover, not eisenhower. not nix on thaon. not reagan. if you ever a question you think we should use, e-mail us. we're expecting statements from hillary clinton, mitt romney and of course the president. election. we're voting for... the future of our medicare and social security. man 1: i want facts. straight talk. tell me your plan... and what it means for me. woman 2: i'm tired of the negative ads and political spin. that won't help me decide. man 2: i earned my medicare and social security. and i deserve some answers. anncr: where do the candidates stand on issues that... affect seniors today and in the future? find out with the aarp voters' guide at earnedasay.org [ dog ] we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing.

and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you.

as you can see, we are waiting for both secretary clinton and mitt romney. both of them are expected to speak any minute now. we understand mitt romney may be do a press availability first, and we are waiting on second clinton. let's bring back our panel. bobby, let me get your sort of final understanding here. how tough should we get on egypt

for basically not acting like an ally here? >> i would be very surprised if in the next 24 hours the egyptian president has not gone on television to express his condolences. if he has not then, i think a strong nudge would be required. i am sure he is hearing from the american embassy even as we speak. if i can make a point about the internet and the outrage that it causes. >> yes. >> let's not forget that it's not simply the internet that does this. this is not a spontaneous explosion out on the streets. there's an industry of outrage whose job is to take what they find on the internet and crank it up and feed that out on the street and provoke this kind of violence. that's the job we need to address. that's the kind of problem that a succession of american administrations have failed to

address. >> senator lincoln was talking about this, and foreign aid is hated on a bipartisan level. when you see the number -- the amount of money that goes to egypt, number two, after israel, it's going to be a tough vote for these guys politically to take. >> yeah, it's going to be a tough vote. we are talking about reaching the fiscal cliff and where do we invest our priorities. it's going to be a tough vote. i think that clearly egypt is going to have to say something in the next hour -- next couple hours. >> how about six hours ago? >> yeah. >> it's beyond me. i understand this guy is clearly, ruth, as you brought up, he obviously is worried more about domestic politics and his own stability of leadership. but this is -- to be crast, this is a checkbook mistake. >> on the foreign aid question. the first is it's not popular and the second is that out there

it occupies a way bigger percentage in the u.s. budget. are these guys our allies? we don't know but we want them to be our allies and need them to be our allies. we are not giving them this money out of the goodness of our hearts, but we are giving them this money because it's in our national interests, and it's a complicated case. it's a case the president will have to be making. >> how much do you have the debate about the managing of the arab spring and the middle east politics and it's worthy of debate and should be part of the presidential debate and at the same time not take your eye off the ball of what the american voters are concerned about, which is the economy? >> yeah, for romney you have to be commander in chief, but you are right at the end of the day, mitt romney wins the election if

people go into the ballot box and vote solely on the economy, and today is the day that we will mourn the loss of american life and tomorrow you need to be back on the economy. >> what is the debate question you want to see asked between when it comes to the arab spring, between the president and mitt romney? >> what do you do to win the street? it's one thing to talk to the muslim brotherhood and it's one thing to talk to newly elected governments, how do you change the perception in the moods in the street, and how do you do that? >> doug, that's a promise the president made and he has not done it. >> yeah, at the beginning of the administration it was a step in that direction to do that. i believe our relationships with countries overseas are much stronger now than they were under the previous administration. this is obviously a very

difficult and tricky situation, and what we are not hearing, though, from mitt romney and his campaign is specifics as to how they would deal with situations in syria. they generally jump out there and give very khus thumping statements but don't back it up with statements. >> you have seen leadership out of the president when it comes to dealing with these countries, and when we see the acts of violence that we witnessed yesterday. i take issue with your statement about relationships. go to poland and go to the czech republic. >> i would disagree with that -- >> that's cheery picking. >> yeah. >> i have a column in the paper this morning about domestic policy, and fiscal policy questions and i think it's a great question, what would you ask about the arab spring? i would ask them both to discuss the degree to which they think

the arab spring was a benefit to us, to the world and to the united states, or a problem, because you hear elements -- >> i think that's debatable. >> that is debatable. has the arab spring been good for the united states? >> well, yes, it has -- >> i have to stop you there. here is hillary clinton. >> yesterday our post in libya was attacked. heavily armed militants attacked the compound and set fire to the buildings. american and libyan security personnel battled the attackers together. four americans were killed. they included sean smith, a foreign service information management officer, and our ambassador to libya, chris stevens. we are still making next of kin notifications for the other two

individuals. this is an attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world. we condemn in the strongest terms this senseless act of violence and we send our prayers to the families, friends and colleagues of those we've lost. all over the world every day americans risk our lives in the service of our countries and values. because they believe that the united states must be a force for peace and progress in the world. that these aspirations are worth striving and sacrificing for. alongside our men and women in uniform they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous